Decolonizing indigenous archaeology: Developments from down under

One of the principal issues facing contemporary archaeologists working in Indigenous Australia is that of Indigenous control over research. If the outcomes of research are jointly owned, then it follows that they are also subject to joint control. This position is consistent with the United Nations’ Draft Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (part 6, article 29), which af rms: After several years of conference debate, this issue became powerfully imprinted on the consciousness of Australian archaeologists when Ros Langford, a member of the Tasmania Aboriginal Community published her views in the mainstream journal Australian Archaeology: As with Vine Deloria, Jr., in the United States, Langford’s views set one of the parameters of archaeological debate in Australia (see, e.g., Deloria 1992). This paper is widely quoted in discussions of Australian archaeology: by writing within the discourse of the discipline, Langford engaged directly with its practitioners, in the process shaping how Australian archaeology would develop (Hodder 1999). In some ways, her paper laid a foundation for the level of control that Indigenous Australians now have over their cultural heritage.